Do celebrities also bear legal responsibility, as they can enjoy 15 hours of live streaming sales a day? Live streaming only requires renting a face
"I watched a live broadcast in the morning and he was eating chicken feet. When I watched it again in the evening, he was still eating chicken feet."
Some citizens have found that some film and television actors and singers are particularly hardworking in transforming into live streaming sales, "eating live streaming sales for 15 hours a day.". However, this kind of "effort" was quickly revealed by industry insiders, which was actually pre recorded videos, cutouts embedded in the live broadcast footage of other assistant anchors, and circulating sales.
Not just video synthesis sales. Recently, live streaming e-commerce company Dongfang Zhenxuan adopted a "slicing sales" model, and 2000 "Dong Yuhui" appeared overnight to promote sales simultaneously; In some live streaming rooms, hosts use AI to change their faces and transform into celebrities for live streaming sales.
It is becoming a reality for celebrities to start live streaming with just one face to earn money. The question also arises: Is there a legal risk in renting a face?
Eating 15 hours of live streaming per day is video synthesis
Ms. Yao, a 37 year old citizen who used to be a fan of the Taiwanese men's group Fahrenheit, recently accidentally stumbled upon a live broadcast by one of the group's members, Chen Yiru. In the live broadcast room, there is a table of various braised foods, with Chen Yiru wearing plastic gloves and indulging in them. The assistant anchor sitting next to him sets up a rectangular small table on the large table to introduce the food he sells. "I used to hear that Chen Yiru was very hardworking during his live broadcast. Once, he choked up in excitement in the live broadcast room, but this live broadcast looked like a robot." Ms. Yao noticed that she didn't respond to any questions she asked herself during the live broadcast, and even completely ignored the assistant anchor chatting next to her. She kept eating and occasionally gestured to like with a thumbs up.
Later, Ms. Yao realized that there was a problem: Chen Yiru's elbow actually crossed the support bracket of the assistant anchor's table. After watching it a few more times, I realized that Chen Yiru's live broadcast footage was actually constantly circulating. And below the "Chen Yiru authorized live broadcast room" at the top of the screen, there is a small line of text that reads, "Only display effects that are not real people.".
In the live broadcast of Chen Yiru, the elbow crosses the bracket, and the small font on the top of the head shows "effect display only"
"In fact, it is the celebrity themselves who first records a video for live streaming e-commerce, and the e-commerce assistant anchor matches the celebrity's video during the live broadcast, making the picture look like the celebrity themselves participating in the live broadcast. According to Mr. Yang, a live streaming industry insider, some places have dedicated green screen live broadcast rooms, which are convenient for cutting and synthesizing images during later live broadcasts.".
Chen Yiru is not the only performer who cheats to participate in the live broadcast. Zhu Zixiao, who has appeared in the TV drama "Let's Watch Meteor Shower Together" produced by Hunan TV, also participated in live broadcasts in this way. An audience member once discovered that he had been eating chicken feet for 15 consecutive hours, but later discovered that it was actually a live broadcast synthesized from a recorded video.
Slice live streaming creates countless "clones"
In addition to celebrity video composite live streaming, another type of "sliced live streaming" has recently entered the public eye.
On September 7th, an audience discovered about 2000 sales accounts on short video platforms with the profile picture and name of Dong Yuhui, a well-known anchor from Dongfang Zhenxuan. They all took clips of Dong Yuhui's live broadcast to sell products, and there was also a shopping link below the video. This phenomenon immediately sparked heated discussions, and many people were dissatisfied with the way Dong Yuhui, the "clean stream" of knowledge, thinking, and viewpoints, was consumed during live streaming. "He is a business card and cannot be used indiscriminately." "Slicing authorization is prohibited, and Mr. Dong's personal IP is protected." On September 9th, Yu Minhong apologized by bowing on a short video platform, stating that he has seriously criticized the company's management.
This incident that made it to the hot search also brought the "slicing live broadcast" that quietly appeared last year to public attention. The so-called slicing live streaming refers to cutting and editing videos of influential individuals such as celebrities and top anchors into short videos, and then attaching product links for sales promotion. Unlike some past cases of stealing celebrity and internet celebrity video clips for sales, slicing live streaming is authorized by both the celebrity and the host. For example, many viewers have childhood memories in their hearts, and Taiwanese child star Hao Shaowen can find many sliced live streaming videos on short video platforms.
Before entering the public eye, this live streaming method had become a business. Anchor "Crazy Little Yang" was one of the earliest anchors to try this method, and now his company has launched an app, with slicing distribution being an important content. In the list of this app, in addition to several top anchors, there are also multiple names of performers, but currently these performers are not authorized.
According to Mr. Yang, currently most open authorization celebrities or anchors do not require authorization fees, but sales revenue needs to be shared. "This approach allows celebrities and anchors to promote their products once, allowing them to reuse resources and generate revenue; businesses can gain greater display and exposure to drive sales; ordinary people who know editing and operation can also increase their income."
The new way of live streaming poses significant legal risks
However, the seemingly thriving celebrity live streaming sales still have legal concerns. According to Article 38 of the Advertising Law, when an advertising spokesperson recommends or proves goods or services in an advertisement, they shall based on facts, comply with the provisions of this Law and relevant laws and administrative regulations, and shall not recommend or prove goods or services that they have not used or received before.
However, in the live broadcast room, some celebrities and public figures are clearly unfamiliar with the products being promoted, and even unwilling to try them out; Nowadays, synthetic live streaming has emerged, and celebrities and public figures do not even need to be present, they only need to produce a video. If there are problems with these products, do celebrities and public figures who promote sales or even virtual sales need to take responsibility?
The reporter learned from legal professionals that celebrities and public figures are responsible for promoting products. In the "Guiding Opinions on Further Regulating Celebrity Advertising Endorsement Activities" jointly issued by the State Administration for Market Regulation, the Central Cyberspace Administration and seven other departments, the scope of celebrity advertising endorsement behavior is further clarified. In addition to various commercial advertisements that the public is already familiar with, "celebrities who recommend and prove products and introduce them during entertainment programs, interview programs, and online live broadcasts constitute advertising endorsement behavior."
There are significant legal risks in various innovative live streaming sales methods. According to legal professionals, some celebrities have added a large number of scenes from their past appearances in movies, TV dramas, and other actors and singers in their live streaming, which may infringe on the production rights of these works and the portrait rights of others. In a live streaming video with related products, in addition to the video of Hao Shaowen introducing the product, there are also scenes of him appearing in movies and the late actor Wu Mengda when he was young.
During Hao Shaowen's live streaming, there were scenes of young actors participating in film works
In addition, there was an AI face changing live broadcast in May this year, with well-known actors such as Yang Mi, Yang Ying, and Dilraba appearing in the live broadcast room, wearing promotional clothing and interacting with netizens. In fact, these live broadcasts are all using technology to replace the host with a celebrity face. Currently, AI face swapping has been banned on multiple video platforms.
"This approach infringes on the portrait and name rights of celebrities and is suspected of false advertising. According to some legal professionals, as the law increasingly regulates celebrity advertising endorsements, some people are starting to play the sidelines. Technological development requires legal interpretation and regulation." For example, in the future, if someone is really willing to authorize 'rental face' live streaming, then whether the anchor is considered 'face' or the person behind the face, who is responsible for different legal responsibilities, and relevant explanations should be followed up in a timely manner. "
"In fact, renting faces to sell products is not new." Mr. Wei, who works as a performing arts agent, introduced that some well-known performers have not only endorsed big brands, but also shot a variety of products. "Some are authorized to the brand side to create a set of pictures, and they can make the products agreed upon in the contract or put the photos on the product packaging." However, in his opinion, actors and singers who truly hope to develop in the performing arts industry will still cherish feathers and cannot easily rent faces to make a profit. "Just like Dongfang Zhenxuan's apology this time is to maintain Dong Yuhui's textured image, and such profits will be more long-term."
